Sundance 2019: Official Selection of All 112 Feature Films Announced

Sundance 2019: Official Selection of All 112 Feature Films Announced

by Alex Billington November 28, 2018Supply: Sundance

Each new yr brings us one other Sundance Movie Pageant and with 57 days left till Sundance 2019 kicks off on January 24th, it is time to discover out what’s enjoying this yr. Sundance has revealed their 2019 choice of ALL of their official function movies within the choice this yr, together with 112 movies enjoying throughout 9 totally different classes, starting from controversial documentaries to comedies and dramas and a lot extra. That is the second yr in a row they’ve revealed their full line-up in a single massive announcement, relatively than splitting it up into a couple of bulletins. There’s some very peculiar, amusing, thrilling, provocative movies headed to the mountains in January, and I can not wait to see many of them. Take a look at the complete line-up under.

Flick through all of the function movie choices for Sundance 2019 movies – and go to Sundance.org for extra.

U.S. Dramatic Competitors:

Presenting the world premieres of 16 narrative function movies, the Dramatic Competitors provides Festivalgoers a primary take a look at groundbreaking new voices in American unbiased movie.

Ms. Purple (Director: Justin Chon, Screenwriters: Justin Chon, Chris Dinh, Producer: Alex Chi, Justin Chon) — Kasie, caught in LA’s Koreatown, works as a karaoke hostess getting paid for her companionship by drunken males. When her dad’s hospice nurse quits she reconnects together with her estranged brother, Carey, forcing them to enter a interval of intense self-reflection as their single father who raised them nears dying. Forged: Tiffany Chu, Teddy Lee, Octavio Pizano, James Kang.

Presenting the world premieres of 16 American documentaries that illuminate the concepts, individuals and occasions that form the current day.

All the time in Season (Director: Jacqueline Olive) — When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is discovered hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mom’s seek for justice and reconciliation begins because the trauma of greater than a century of lynching African People bleeds into the current.

Bedlam (Director: Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, Producers: Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, Peter Miller) — A psychiatrist makes rounds in ERs, jails, and homeless camps to inform the intimate tales behind one of the best social crises of our time. A private and intense journey into the world of the significantly mentally unwell.

David Crosby: Keep in mind My Identify (Director: A.J. Eaton, Producers: Cameron Crowe, Michele Farinola, Greg Mariotti) — You thought you knew him. Meet David Crosby now on this portrait of a person with every thing however a simple retirement on his thoughts. With unflinching honesty, self-examination, remorse, worry, exuberance and an unshakable perception in household and the transformative nature of music, Crosby shares his typically difficult journey.

Hail Devil (Director: Penny Lane, Producer: Gabriel Sedgwick) — A take a look at the intersection of faith and activism, tracing the rise of The Satanic Temple: solely six years previous and already one of probably the most controversial spiritual actions in American historical past. The Temple is looking for a Satanic revolution to save lots of the nation’s soul. However are they for actual?

Jawline (Director: Liza Mandelup, Producers: Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Hannah Reyer) — The movie follows 16-year-old Austyn Tester, a rising star within the live-broadcast ecosystem who constructed his following on wide-eyed optimism and teenage woman lust, as he tries to flee a dead-end life in rural Tennessee.

Knock Down the Home (Director: Rachel Lears, Producers: Sarah Olson, Robin Blotnick, Rachel Lears) — A younger bartender within the Bronx, a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia, a grieving mom in Nevada and a registered nurse in Missouri construct a motion of rebel candidates difficult highly effective incumbents in Congress. One of their races will grow to be probably the most surprising political upset in current American historical past. Forged: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Midnight Household (Director: Luke Lorentzen, Producers: Kellen Quinn, Daniela Alatorre, Elena Fortes) — In Mexico Metropolis’s wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa household runs a personal ambulance, competing with different for-profit EMTs for sufferers in want of pressing assist. As they attempt to make a dwelling on this cutthroat business, they wrestle to maintain their monetary wants from compromising the individuals of their care.

Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Actions / U.S.A. (Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Producers: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tahria Sheather) — A deeply private portrait of three lives, and the discoveries that lie past loss: a deaf boy rising up, his deaf grandfather rising previous, and Beethoven the yr he was blindsided by deafness and wrote his iconic sonata.

One Baby Nation (Administrators: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Producers: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman, Christoph Jörg, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn) — After turning into a mom, a filmmaker uncovers the untold historical past of China’s one-child coverage and the generations of mother and father and youngsters ceaselessly formed by this social experiment.

Pahokee (Administrators: Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan, Producers: Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan, Maida Lynn) — In a small agricultural city within the Florida Everglades, hopes for the longer term are targeting the youth. 4 teenagers face heartbreak and have fun within the rituals of a unprecedented senior yr.

Tigerland (Director: Ross Kauffman, Producers: Fisher Stevens, Xan Parker, Zara Duffy) — 50 years in the past, a younger forest officer in India rallied the world to save lots of tigers from extinction. At this time, the creed is carried on in Far East Russia by the guardians of the final Siberian tigers, who danger every thing to save lots of the species.

Koko-di Koko-da / Sweden, Denmark (Director & Screenwriter: Johannes Nyholm, Producer: Johannes Nyholm) — As a pair goes on a visit to seek out their method again to one another, a sideshow artist and his shady entourage emerge from the woods, terrorizing them, luring them deeper and deeper right into a maelstrom of psychological terror and humiliating slapstick. Forged: Leif Edlund, Ylva Gallon, Peter Belli, Katarina Jacobson.

The Final Tree / United Kingdom (Director & Screenwriter: Shola Amoo, Producers: Lee Thomas, Myf Hopkins) — Femi is a British boy of Nigerian heritage who, after a cheerful childhood in rural Lincolnshire, strikes to internal London to reside together with his mum. Battling the unfamiliar tradition and values of his new surroundings, teenage Femi has to determine which path to maturity he needs to take. Forged: Sam Adewunmi, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Tai Golding.

We Are Little Zombies / Japan (Director & Screenwriter: Makoto Nagahisa, Producers: Shinichi Takahashi, Tahei Tamanishi, Haruki Yokoyama, Haruhiko Hasegawa) — Their mother and father are lifeless. They need to be unhappy, however they can not cry. In order that they type a kick-ass band. That is the story of 4 13-year-olds in search of their feelings. Forged: Keita Ninomiya, Satoshi Mizuno, Mondo Okumura, Sena Nakajima.

World Cinema Documentary Competitors:

12 documentaries by some of probably the most brave and extraordinary worldwide filmmakers working immediately.

Advocate / Israel, Canada, Switzerland (Administrators: Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaïche, Producers: Philippe Bellaïche, Rachel Leah Jones, Paul Cadieux, Joelle Bertossa) Lea Tsemel defends Palestinians: from feminists to fundamentalists, from non-violent demonstrators to armed militants. As a Jewish-Israeli lawyer who has represented political prisoners for almost 50 years, Tsemel, in her tireless quest for justice, pushes the praxis of a human rights defender to its limits.

Untitled Brazil Documentary / Brazil (Director & Screenwriter: Petra Costa, Producers: Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris, Tiago Pavan) — A cautionary story for these occasions of democracy in disaster – the private and political fuse to discover one of probably the most dramatic durations in Brazilian historical past. With unprecedented entry to Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva, we witness their rise and fall and the tragically polarized nation that is still.

The Disappearance of My Mom / Italy (Director & Screenwriter: Beniamino Barrese, Producer: Filippo Macelloni) — An ageing trend mannequin strives to flee the world of photographs and disappear for good, however her son’s willpower to make a last movie about her sparks an sudden collaboration and confrontation with the digital camera’s gaze.

Lapü / Colombia (Administrators: Juan Pablo Polanco, César Alejandro Jaimes, Screenwriters: Juan Pablo Polanco, César Alejandro Jaimes, María Canela Reyes, Producer: Julián David Quintero) — Within the center of the Guajira Desert, Doris, a younger Wayuu lady, exhumes her cousin’s stays with a purpose to meet her for the final time. By means of a sensory journey this ritual leads her to confront demise and mix the world of the goals with the world of the dwelling. Forged: Doris González Jusayú, Carmen González Jusayú.

The Magic Life of V / Finland, Denmark, Bulgaria (Director: Tonislav Hristov, Screenwriters: Tonislav Hristov, Kaarle Aho, Producers: Kaarle Aho, Kai Nordberg) — Haunted by childhood traumas, Veera is making an attempt to turn out to be extra unbiased via stay roleplaying. As she guides herself and her mentally-challenged brother by means of worlds of a number of roles and identities, witches and wizards, she finds the braveness to face the demons of her personal previous and her abusive father’s legacy.

Midnight Traveler / U.S.A., Qatar, United Kingdom, Canada (Director: Hassan Fazili, Screenwriter: Emelie Mahdavian, Producers: Emelie Mahdavian, Su Kim) — When the Taliban places a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili’s head, he’s pressured to flee together with his spouse and two younger daughters. Capturing their unsure journey, Fazili exhibits firsthand the risks dealing with refugees looking for asylum and the love shared between a household on the run.

Sea of Shadows / Austria (Director: Richard Ladkani, Producers: Walter Koehler, Wolfgang Knoepfler) —The vaquita, the world’s smallest whale, is close to extinction as its habitat is destroyed by Mexican cartels and Chinese language mafia, who harvest the swim bladder of the totoaba fish, the “cocaine of the sea.” Environmental activists, Mexican navy and undercover investigators are preventing again towards this unlawful multimillion-dollar enterprise.

Capturing the Mafia / Eire (Director: Kim Longinotto, Producer: Niamh Fagan) — Sicilian Letizia Battaglia started a lifelong battle with the Mafia when she first pointed her digital camera at a brutally slain sufferer. Documenting the Cosa Nostra’s barbaric rule, she bore unflinching witness to their crimes. Her pictures, artwork, and bravado helped to deliver an finish to a surprising reign of slaughter.

Pure, daring works distinguished by an progressive, forward-thinking strategy to storytelling populate this program. Digital know-how paired with unfettered creativity guarantees that the movies on this part will form a “greater” subsequent wave in American cinema. Introduced by Adobe.

Adam (Director: Rhys Ernst, Screenwriter: Ariel Schrag, Producers: Howard Gertler, James Schamus) — Awkward teenager Adam arrives to spend his remaining highschool summer time together with his older sister, who has thrown herself into New York Metropolis’s lesbian and trans activist scene. Over the summer time, Adam and people round him expertise love, friendship, and attendant exhausting truths on this coming-of-age comedy. Forged: Nicholas Alexander, India Menuez, Leo Sheng, Chloe Levine, Margaret Qualley.

Sister Aimee (Administrators & Screenwriters: Samantha Buck, Marie Schlingmann, Producers: Bettina Barrow, David Hartstein, Katherine Harper) — In 1926 America’s most well-known evangelist is a lady. And she or he’s in search of a method out. Fed up together with her personal success, she will get swept up in her lover’s daydreams about Mexico and finds herself on a wild street journey in the direction of the border. Based mostly on true occasions. Principally made up. Forged: Anna Margaret Hollyman, Michael Mosley, Andrea Suarez Paz, Julie White, Macon Blair, Amy Hargreaves.

A showcase of world premieres of some of probably the most extremely anticipated narrative movies of the approaching yr.

After The Wedding ceremony (Director & Screenwriter: Bart Freundlich, Producers: Joel B. Michaels, Harry Finkel) — Looking for funds for her orphanage in India, Isabelle travels to New York to satisfy Theresa, a rich benefactor. An invite to attend a marriage ignites a collection of occasions by which the previous collides with the current whereas mysteries unravel. Based mostly on the Academy Award-nominated movie by Susanne Bier. Forged: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Billy Crudup, Abby Quinn.

Animals / United Kingdom, Eire, Australia (Director: Sophie Hyde, Screenwriter: Emma Jane Unsworth, Producers: Sarah Brocklehurst, Rebecca Summerton, Cormac Fox, Sophie Hyde) — After a decade of partying, Laura and Tyler’s friendship is strained by Laura’s new love and her concentrate on her novel. A snapshot of a contemporary lady with competing wishes, directly a celebration of feminine friendship and an examination of the alternatives we make when dealing with a crossroads. Forged: Holliday Grainger, Alia Shawkat.

Photograph / India (Director & Screenwriter: Ritesh Batra, Producers: Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani) — Two lives intersect in Mumbai and go alongside collectively. A struggling road photographer, pressured to marry by his grandmother, convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The pair develops a connection that transforms them in ways in which they might not anticipate. Forged: Nawazuddin Siddiqi, Sanya Malhotra.

Relive (Director: Jacob Estes, Screenwriters: Jacob Estes, Drew Daywalt, Producers: Jason Blum, Bobby Cohen) — After a person’s household dies in what seems to be a homicide, he will get a telephone name from one of the lifeless, his niece. He’s unsure if she’s a ghost or if he’s going mad — however because it seems, he’s not. As an alternative, her calls assist him rewrite historical past. Forged: David Oyelowo, Storm Reid, Mykelti Williamson, Alfred Molina, Bryan Tyree Henry.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind / United Kingdom (Director & Screenwriter: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Producers: Andrea Calderwood, Gail Egan) — Towards all the chances, a 13 yr previous boy in Malawi invents an unconventional option to save his household and village from famine. Based mostly on the true story of William Kamkwamba. Forged: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maxwell Simba, Lily Banda, Noma Dumezweni, Aissa Maiga, Joseph Marcell.

The Report (Director & Screenwriter: Scott Z. Burns, Producers: Steven Soderbergh, Jennifer Fox, Scott Z. Burns, Danny Gabai, Eddy Moretti ) — The story of Daniel Jones, lead investigator for the US Senate’s sweeping research into the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, which was discovered to be brutal, immoral and ineffective. With the reality at stake, Jones battled tirelessly to make public what many in energy sought to maintain hidden. Forged: Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Jon Hamm, Ted Levine, Maura Tierney, Michael C. Corridor.

The Sunlit Night time / Germany, Norway (Director: David Wnendt, Screenwriter: Rebecca Dinerstein, Producers: Michael Clark, Alex Turtletaub, Gabrielle Nadig, Fabian Gasmia, Ruben Thorkildsen, Jenny Slate) — Between New York Metropolis and the far north of Norway, an American painter and a Russian émigré discover one another within the Arctic circle. Collectively underneath a solar that by no means units, they uncover a future and household that they did not know that they had. Forged: Jenny Slate, Zach Galifianakis, Alex Sharp, Gillian Anderson, Fridjov Sáheim, David Paymer.

The Tomorrow Man (Director & Screenwriter: Noble Jones, Producers: Luke Rivett, Nicolaas Bertelsen, James Schamus, Tony Lipp) — Ed Hemsler spends his life getting ready for a catastrophe which will by no means come. Ronnie Meisner spends her life looking for issues she might by no means use. In a small city someplace in America, these two individuals will attempt to discover love whereas making an attempt to not get misplaced in one another’s stuff. Forged: John Lithgow, Blythe Danner, Derek Cecil, Katie Aselton, Sophie Thatcher, Eve Harlow.

Halston (Director & Screenwriter: Frédéric Tcheng, Producers: Roland Ballester, Frédéric Tcheng, Stephanie Levy, Paul Dallas) — From Iowa to Studio 54, this investigation into the rags-to-riches story of America’s first celebrity designer uncovers the cautionary story of an artist who bought his identify to Wall Road.

Marianne & Leonard: Phrases of Love (Director: Nick Broomfield, Producers: Marc Hoeferlin, Shani Hinton, Kyle Gibbon) — A narrative of enduring love between Leonard Cohen and his Norwegian muse Marianne Ihlen. The movie follows their relationship from the early days in Greece, a time of ‘free love’ and open marriage, to how their love advanced when Leonard turned a profitable musician.

Merata: How Mum Decolonised The Display / New Zealand (Director & Screenwriter: Heperi MIta, Producer: Chelsea Winstanley) — An intimate portrayal of pioneering filmmaker Merata Mita, advised by way of the eyes of her youngsters. Utilizing hours of archive footage, some by no means earlier than seen, her youngest youngster discovers the filmmaker he by no means knew and shares with the world the mom he misplaced.

Miles Davis: Start of the Cool (Director: Stanley Nelson, Producers: Nicole London, Stanley Nelson) — A visionary, innovator, and originator who defied categorization and embodied the phrase cool: a foray into the life and profession of musical and cultural icon Miles Davis.

Increase Hell: The Life & Occasions of Molly Ivins (Director: Janice Engel, Screenwriters: Janice Engel, Monique Zavistovski, Producers: James Egan, Janice Engel, Carlisle Vandervoort) — Molly Ivins was six ft of flame-haired Texas hassle, a prescient political journalist, best-selling writer and Invoice of Rights warrior. She took no prisoners, leaving each side of the aisle laughing and craving extra of her razor-sharp wit. It is time to Increase Hell like Molly!

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (Director: Alex Gibney, Producers: Jessie Deeter, Erin Edeiken, Alex Gibney) — With a magical new invention that promised to revolutionize blood testing, Elizabeth Holmes turned the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, heralded as the subsequent Steve Jobs. Then, in a single day, her $10-billion-dollar firm dissolved. The rise and fall of Theranos is a window into the psychology of fraud.

Toni Morrison: The Items I Am (Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Producers: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Johanna Giebelhaus, Chad Thompson, Tommy Walker) — This clever and intimate meditation on the legendary storyteller examines her life, her works and the highly effective themes she has confronted all through her literary profession. Toni Morrison leads an meeting of her friends, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, historical past, America and the human situation.

Untouchable (Director: Ursula Macfarlane, Producers: Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn, Poppy Dixon) — The within story of the rise and fall of Harvey Weinstein reveals how, over many years, he acquires and protects his energy whilst scandal threatens to engulf him. Former colleagues and accusers element the tactic and penalties of his alleged abuse, hoping for justice and to encourage change.

Phrases from a Bear (Director: Jeffrey Palmer, Producer: Jeffrey Palmer) — A visible journey into the thoughts and soul of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Navarro Scott Momaday, relating every written line to his distinctive Native American expertise representing ancestry, place, and oral historical past.

Midnight:

From horror and comedy to works that defy style classification, these movies will hold you conscious, even on the most arduous hour.

The Gap within the Floor / Eire (Director: Lee Cronin, Screenwriters: Lee Cronin, Stephen Shields, Producers: John Keville, Conor Barry) — One night time, Sarah’s younger son disappears into the woods behind their rural residence. When he returns, he appears the identical, however his conduct grows more and more disturbing. Quickly, Sarah realizes that the boy who returned is probably not her son in any respect… Forged: Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, James Quinn Markey.

The Largest Little Farm (Director: John Chester, Screenwriters: Mark Monroe, John Chester, Producers: Sandra Keats, John Chester) — Two dreamers and a canine embark on an odyssey to deliver concord to their lives and the land. As their plan to create good concord takes a collection of wild turns, they should attain a far higher understanding of the intricacies and knowledge of nature, and life itself.

This part of the Pageant is particularly for our youngest unbiased movie followers. Programmed in cooperation with Utah Movie Middle, which presents the annual Tumbleweeds Movie Pageant, Utah’s premiere movie pageant for youngsters and youth.

The Elephant Queen / United Kingdom, Kenya (Administrators: Victoria Stone, Mark Deeble, Screenwriter: Mark Deeble, Producers: Victoria Stone, Lucinda Englehart) — Athena is a mom who will do all the things in her energy to guard her herd when they’re pressured to go away their waterhole and embark on an epic journey throughout the African savannah in a story of love, loss and coming residence.

The Witch Hunters / Serbia, Macedonia (Director: Rasko Miljkovic, Screenwriters: Marko Manojlovic, Milos Kreckovic, Producer: Jovana Karaulic) — 10-year-old Jovan is usually escaping actuality to immerse himself right into a fantasy world. All of it modifications when he befriends his new classmate Milica and the journey to hunt her ‘witch’ stepmother begins. Forged: Mihajlo Milavic, Silma Mahmuti.

Commenting on the choice this yr, Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute, stated, “Society relies on storytellers. The choices they make, and the risks they take, define our collective experience. This year’s Festival is full of storytellers who offer challenges, questions and entertainment. In telling their stories, they make difficult decisions in the pursuit of truth and art; culture reaps the reward.” Keri Putnam, Government Director of Sundance Institute, stated, “Focusing a bright light on these independent stories is urgent and crucial, especially in the noise of today’s globalized media landscape. Voices from many places and perspectives, often shut out of the mainstream, offer us new insights. It’s immensely heartening to see these bold visions and their tellers thriving.” So many thrilling, fascinating, loopy movies to see this yr.

Sundance is one of my prime festivals, and I am excited to get a glimpse in any respect the movies enjoying. This yr seems like one other enjoyable one. Sundance 2019 runs from January 24th to February third. For extra: Sundance.org.